This book is very thorough and easy to follow, but unfortunately it's also quite a bit out of date. The MLA specifications have undergone several revisions since 1988, and most people will expect you to use the most recent ones. Go for the 2009 version of this book. ( )

It's really helping you a long way to correct citation style :-) ( )

This is a must for us writers and teachers. Buy your copy today! ( )

Get this book and don't bother being tempted by the bigger, glossier one. This one has all you need for MLA, unless you're doing really professional work or you need to work with very difficult citations. Well laid out, with lots of examples. ( )

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This book is incredibly easy to use with clear, precise examples. The table of contents is easy to search. This book is lacking in a few "special case" citation examples, so when using this I would occassionally have to look on the internet for help. In general though, this book is a great book and a staple to every college student's library. ( )

This is, of course, the Bible for English majors. Get used to it. It's loads better than the Bluebook--the inefficient manual for legal citation.

Unfortunately, the MLA Handbook only addresses the easy citation problems. For five editions, this hallowed organization has boldly ignored the more difficult bibliographic issues. And Internet citation anybody? Must we remain in such an extreme state of confusion about Internet citation? This problem is not difficult, guys if one actually looks at works being made on available the Internet. ( )

A terrible read but a great reference. It is a must-have for any highschool or college student. ( )

Report writing > Handbooks, manuals, etc/Research > Handbooks, manuals, etc

Don't write your english research paper without. Seriously. It is both my bane and my salvation. ( )

Generally very detailed, with plenty of illuminating examples. But this 2003 edition has nothing on citing blogs and the like, and even the rules for newsgroups don't foresee the need for citing two posts by the same person and with the same title.

Also, the sixth edition "features" a change in the guidelines for citing judicial opinions. Whereas the fifth edition mandated the use of a case reporter, the sixth edition instead mandates using the case number. I suppose it's better in principle, since it's more "attached" to the opinion itself than a citation to another book is, but (a) every book and journal I've ever seen uses only the case reporter, and (b) unless you have the original slip opinion, or the opinion is from a jurisdiction that has adopted a public-domain citation format (that's one in which the paragraphs are numbered), you're offered no guidance for in-text citations. After all, if you can't cite a book, how can you have page numbers?

The first of these complaints, however, is no fault of Gibaldi, who, like the rest of us, had no knowledge of blogs in 2003. And the second is of no concern for the majority of this book's target audience (to his credit, Gibaldi directs the reader to the Bluebook for more extensive guidance). Overall, this book has a very large job to do, and it does it well. ( )

For most writing "style guide" books, you can gauge how good it is by its usefulness and the applicability of its advice. The MLA Handbook isn't really one of them. You buy it, or any of the other books on writing research papers, because you have to write a research paper and you get points off for using the wrong style. Too bad professors don't usually consider winging it to be a style. What set this book apart from the rest of the herd for me is that the English department in my college chose this as its writing and citation resource. The writing in the book is dry and can be annoying, like most of its ilk. I've always preferred Strunk's implied "you idiot" method of communication.

Personally, I like the Chicago Manual of Style better for the actual citations. Still, though, this work is very useful when it comes to academic writing. ( )

A savior for anyone who regularly writes academic papers. Plus it has a shiny silver cover. ( )